


silver lining

by orphan_account



Series: piece by piece, rubble to rubble [6]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Car Accidents, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hospitalization, hey guys hows it going, im going quaran-crazy lol, its a nice balance i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:34:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23566153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “Donna was in a car accident.” Sam interrupted.Josh stopped.His heart was starting to speed up, there was a familiar bitter taste blooming on his tongue, but his brain hadn’t caught up yet.“What?” He said slowly.“A car accident. Donna was in a car accident.”
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Pre-Relationship - Relationship
Series: piece by piece, rubble to rubble [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1644367
Comments: 4
Kudos: 118





	silver lining

**Author's Note:**

> Hey yall!! I imagine this happening somewhere in season 3. No clue where.

Josh slammed his backpack onto the ground and dropped into his desk chair. He let his head fall through his hands and onto the desk, and then banged it a few times for good measure. 

Jesus. What a shitty, shitty, shitty, fucking day. 

It had started with his alarm not going off, so he woke up twenty minutes late. He’d switched on CNN while haphazardly pouring cold coffee into a travel mug and was greeted with the news that the Dow had taken a dive, which meant- whoopee, Leo would be in rare form. His car wouldn’t start, and when he finally got in, Donna was standing in front of his door with a determined look on her face. 

“What?” He snapped a little, rubbing his face. Donna scrunched her nose at him. 

“What’s got your panties in a bunch?” She followed him into his office and handed him his schedule. 

“Nothing. What?” 

“Why is there a what? Maybe I just wanted to say good morning.” 

“Donna, you want something.” Josh collapsed in his chair and pulled the schedule towards him. Oh good. A hell day. He was spending the morning with the AFL-CIO and the afternoon on the Hill. 

“Well,” she hesitated. “Last week, I mentioned I needed the afternoon off today.” 

Josh looked up sharply. He vaguely remembered that, and vaguely remembered agreeing. 

“For?”

Donna crossed her arms. 

“Y’know, Josh, not that it IS any of your business, but I did tell you last week.”

“Donna-“

“My sister has been in town for the past few days, and I just wanted the afternoon off to take her around the city.”

Oh, right. 

“Okay, Donna, I swear to God this isn’t me just bitching you out, but I really need you this afternoon.”

“What? Why?” She was clearly irritated. 

“I’m supposed to be on the Hill, but I agreed to go to Carson’s field office in Rockville to attend a strategy meeting.”

“And you-“

“-need you to go to Rockville and sit in on it for me, yes.”

“Do you even listen when I speak?” 

“Occasionally.” Josh said. “I have senior staff. I have to go.” He got up and ignored the headache that was building behind his eyes. Donna followed him out. 

“Josh, honestly, I swear you’re just trying to make me angry.”

“No, Donna, I’m not trying to. You’re just easy to piss off.” 

Donna stopped in the middle of the hallway and crossed her arms, and Josh knew he had struck a nerve. He at least had the sense to feel a little bad. 

“I can’t take the Metro, it’s closed between Grosvenor and Rockville.” She said monotone, jaw set. 

“Take my car.” 

“I already have your keys.” She held up his key chain and turned on her heel, and Josh stomped into Leo’s office. 

That was four hours ago. In between, he had downed 800 mg of Advil and four coffees in an attempt to get rid of the headache behind his eyes, to no avail. He had been yelled at by union representatives for two hours, and then by Leo for another when he had made some dumbass comments. So now, he was cracking open a water bottle and wondering if anyone would notice if he just quietly bashed his head in against the wall. 

“Josh.” Sam was in the doorway, a cautious expression on his face. He must have ran into CJ. Josh had also said something stupid to her. Boy, he was really on a roll today. 

“What?” He groaned. Donna wasn’t here to get him lunch and the mess was so far away. Guess he was having fruit snacks. 

“Donna-“

“Donna needs to get over it.” He snapped. “I didn’t schedule the meeting on purpose, I’m sorry I forgot her sister was in town, but Jesus, you’d think I was torturing her, the way she reacts to this shit, like I can control politics or the White House-“

“Donna was in a car accident.” Sam interrupted. 

Josh stopped. 

His heart was starting to speed up, there was a familiar bitter taste blooming on his tongue, but his brain hadn’t caught up yet. 

“What?” He said slowly. 

“Donna was in a car accident.” Sam repeated. 

Car accident. Donna. 

Oh, Jesus. Oh, no. 

“What happened? Where is she?” Josh jumped up from his desk and- honest to god, hadn’t he turned that radio off when he left for the meeting- grabbed his coat and patted his pocket- where the fuck where his keys-

“Josh-“

Sam had both hands on his shoulders and was looking at him with a serious expression. 

“I need you to breathe. All I know is that it’s not critical. She’s at Holy Cross in Silver Spring.” 

“How do you know?” Josh croaked out. 

“They called me. Something about not being able to reach you.” 

Josh pulled out his phone with mounting dread. He had six missed calls. Oh god. Oh fuck. 

“I have to go.” He mumbled. “I have to go now, where are my keys-“

“Just take mine.” Sam fished out his keys and handed them over. “Be careful driving and call me when you see her.” 

* * *

  
  


Josh didn’t fully remember driving to the hospital. 

All he knew was that he sped and he wove in and out of cars and his mind was blank except for car accident car accident car accident-

Josh gripped the steering wheel tight. He was sitting at a red light, one turn away from the hospital. Jesus. He’d been there forever. Not critical. She’s not critical. She’s okay. But not critical could mean any number of things- it could mean- Jesus. 

Fuck it. 

He turned on the red, ignoring the indignant honks, and saw a traffic light flash. 

Not his most immediate problem. He swerved into the parking lot of the hospital, stomped up to the reception, flashed his credentials in a thoroughly undignified way that definitely would have made Leo spitting mad, and got a room number. 

Jesus. Were all hospitals the same on the inside? 

As he got closer to the room number, he heard a conversation inside. 

“-Don’t understand. Why didn’t he just give you the day off?”

“Because he’s a stubborn jerk, but trust me, he’s gonna come in here and it’s gonna be-“ 

“Donna!” 

Josh pulled open the door. 

Donna was sitting on the bed, a black eye and busted lip, with her arm in a white cast. A woman who looked suspiciously like Donna, but younger, was sitting next to her, arms crossed. 

Josh felt his heart rate drop 20 beats, just having her in his line of sight. She was okay. 

“What the hell happened? Are you okay?” He demanded as he got closer. 

Donna grinned with a split lip, and actually started laughing as he sat on the edge of the bed and leaned forward to brush her hair out of her face. 

“Why are you laughing?” He asked. Donna just giggled and leaned into his hand. He turned confusedly towards the Donna-twin. 

“Why is she laughing?” 

“They gave her painkillers and I’m pretty sure she’s laughing because she was in the middle of telling me you were gonna storm in here.” She said, her eyebrows raised. 

“What?” Josh turned back. Her eye was nearly swollen shut, and a nice bruise was forming on her cheekbone. 

“I knew you were gonna come. Didn’t know it was going to be so quick. I’m okay.” She said. Her scary grin had morphed into a genuine smile. 

“Are you sure?” He asked. “What happened? Seriously?” 

“I was on my way back from that meeting, and I got back on the beltway, and this asshat in front of me slammed on his breaks so I slammed on mine, but the guy behind me didn’t get the memo and he, uh, hit the back of your car. It’s totaled. I’m really sorry, Josh.” 

Car. What? Oh right. She had taken his car. 

“Donna, I really don’t care about the car. Are you okay?” 

She held up her casted wrist and winced. 

“Fractured wrist, concussion and I busted my face pretty good. Otherwise, I’m fine.” 

Josh could feel himself relax a little as she said that. Jesus, he hadn’t even realized he was so tense. It wasn’t that this wasn’t bad- Josh probably could still put his hand through some concrete- it was that since being in a near-death experience himself, anything less than that was do-able. He could handle it. Mostly. 

“You gave me a heart attack!” He scolded. Donna squeezed his fingers lightly and- oh, they were still holding hands. 

“I’m fine. I’m just waiting on discharge papers from the nurse. How did you get here so quick?” She asked suspiciously. 

“Uh, speeding.”

“But still, that’s like a fifty minute drive.”

“Well, turns out it’s faster when you don’t stop to have a beer with your buddies.” Josh said. 

“Oh, shit!” Josh looked over. The Donna-clone was hiding a grin behind her hands. “He’s right.” She said to Donna. 

“I am right. I like people who agree with me, are you-?“

“Teresa, yeah, I’m Donna’s sister.” 

“Good to finally meet you.” Josh said. He had met a majority of Donna’s family already, having stopped with her in Wisconsin on the campaign for a day, but Teresa had been away at college. 

“You too.” Teresa arched an eyebrow at her sister. “I’ve heard a lot about you.” 

“Shut up, Teresa.” Donna groaned. “Go ask the nurse for the number for a taxi, please.”

“What?” Josh said. “Hey, crazy lady, I didn’t just break every traffic law in the DMV for you to get into a taxi. I’m taking you home.” 

“Don’t you have to go back to work?”

Josh waved a hand. “I’ve already missed two meetings on the hill and the other two are with Republicans so I don’t really care all that much.” 

Donna stared at him for a second, then nodded. 

“Okay. Thank you.”

* * *

The ride to Donna’s apartment was quiet. Josh had good-naturedly fought with Donna over the radio, since that’s what they always did, but he quickly ceded to Donna’s mix-tape, copies of which were kept in his car, Sam’s car, and at the radio in the office. Donna had decided no one but her had good music taste years ago. 

Teresa spent the first fifteen minutes switching between barraging Josh with questions about their work and updating Donna about her sophomore courses. As they hit rush hour traffic on the beltway, it turned suspiciously silent, and Josh had craned his neck back to find her dead asleep. 

“Huh,” He said, looking back towards the road. “She’s just like you” 

“Hmm? How?” Donna said. 

“Put her in a car for ten minutes and she falls asleep.” 

Donna looked back, then turned forward, wincing. 

“You okay?” Josh asked. The sinking sun turned the bruising on her cheek a dark purple, and Josh noticed a blood stain on her cardigan. 

“My arm really hurts.” She admitted, leaning back and closing her eyes. 

Josh felt a short, sharp pang of anxiety in his stomach. He reached over the seat and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tight. 

“I’m just really glad you’re okay.” He said. “When Sam told me...I..”  
  
He had spent forty-five minutes in a half-panic attack. That’s what he had done. 

“I am really sorry about your car.” 

“It wasn’t your fault.” He said firmly. “If I hadn’t made you go to that meeting, this wouldn’t have happened.” 

At this, she finally cracked a smile. 

“Yeah, I bet you feel bad now, huh?” 

“What, did you plan this?” Josh grinned at her and let go off her hand to switch on his turn signal. He usually drove like a maniac, courtesy of growing up adjacent to both Massachusetts and New York, but with Donna in the car, he slowed down. 

“Perhaps. I’m playing chess, Joshua. You’re playing checkers.” She said. 

Josh looked over at her. Blonde hair swept into a haphazard braid, simple gold necklace, pretty blue blouse. She had freckles. Josh already knew that; he had seen them before when they had sat in the direct sun for hours at a rally in California. He could still see them across her nose, even in the parts of her skin marred by bruises and cuts. 

“Dangerous move,” He said. “But effective.” 

  
She nodded sagely. 

“I learned from the best.” 

* * *

Josh carried in her purse and prescriptions, and nearly yelped when one of the cats wound itself around his feet. 

“Your roommate still has these rodents?” He complained, putting everything down on the counter. Teresa disappeared into Donna’s bedroom to call her boyfriend. 

Said rodent hissed at him indignantly and leaped on top of the counter. 

“Yes,” Donna said, sitting heavily on the couch. “What did you think Marie did with them?”

“I don’t know, I just figured you guys would have realized a demon possessed them by now, and gotten them, what’s that word, it’s the Catholic thing-” 

“Exorcised.” She supplied. 

“Donna, I don’t think cats like jogging very much.”  
“No, dummy, E-X-O-R- you’re screwing with me, aren’t you?”  
“Perhaps. Chess, not checkers.” 

“I hate you.” 

“I know. Do you want to order food?” Josh came over with a glass of juice and her pills. “Take ‘em. “ 

“I don’t know, I don’t really want to eat.” She complained. “My stomach’s all gross.” 

“Yeah, it’s the pain meds. You should eat.” 

“Alright.”  
“How about Italian? I can just order out from Maggiano’s.” 

She wrinkled her nose up and took her pills with the juice. 

“That’s expensive.” 

Josh shrugged. 

“I suddenly came into a lot of money today.” He said casually as Donna leaned against the back of the couch and put her feet in his lap. 

“On what?”  
  


“On my bet that you’d get into a car accident on the way back from Carson’s.” 

Donna stared at him with one good eye for approximately half a second before she threw a pillow directly at his face. 

“That’s not a very nice way to treat the guy who’s about to get you pasta for dinner.” He grinned and reached for the remote, switching on C-SPAN to make up for the lack of work he had done today.

“Well, since it’s the same guy who forgot I was supposed to have today off anyways, I suddenly feel a lot better about his spending money on me.” She said. 

* * *

Josh ended up staying till midnight, when Marie got in from her shift at GW. Teresa was asleep on the pullout across from them, and Donna, too, had passed out, her head first falling on Josh’s shoulder, and then slowly migrating to a pillow in his lap, her arm held protectively across her chest. The room had grown dark around them, with the remains of dinner on the coffee table, and the TV playing quietly. 

Josh had been dozing, one arm wrapped around Donna’s shoulder, but he startled awake as the key turned in the lock. Marie came in. 

“Hi,” Josh said quietly. He liked Marie; she was a pediatric nurse and had come over with Donna a handful of times after Rosslyn to help him out. 

“Hey,” Marie said, matching his hushed tone. “What are you doing here?” 

“There’s food in the fridge for you, if you want it.” Josh said. 

Marie nodded, put her bags down and came over, having grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. She sat across from him on the coffee table, her eyes slightly bugging out at the sight of Donna’s face. 

“She didn’t page you or anything?” Josh said. She and Marie were close, but maybe Donna hadn’t wanted to bother her at work. 

“No! What the hell happened?” 

“Car accident on the beltway.” 

“Does she have notes from the ER? She looks bad.” Marie said, clearly studying the bruising on her face. 

“Uh, yeah, somewhere on the counter.” Josh’s back was starting to ache, and he shifted slightly. Donna was usually a light sleeper, but had totally been knocked out by her pain meds. “I’m gonna go, I just wanted to wait for you to get in.” 

“Yeah, of course, thank you.” 

Josh got up carefully, making sure her head was positioned comfortably on the pillow, before stretching and looking for his coat. 

“Hey,” He said by the door. “She’s got a concussion. I think the doctor said three days off work, so can you make sure she doesn’t come in?” 

“Yeah, absolutely.” Marie said. 

“Thanks.” 

Josh opened the door, and almost out, when he heard Marie say, 

  
“Josh-” 

He poked his head back in. 

“Thank you.” Marie said quietly. “Seriously. I’m really glad she has you.” 

Josh stood silent for a moment, and then swallowed the lump in his throat. 

“Of course.” He said. “See you later, Marie.” 

And he closed the door after him, and walked down the hallway, and tried not to entertain the small voice in the back of his head telling him that Donna really should have him. 

  
  
  
  



End file.
